Rise
by ThespianKid
Summary: Maddie Ross didn't have any attachment to the town of Beacon Hills, and that was the way she liked it. The town was a death trap that she was absolutely aching to escape from, and she was hoping to leave without anything following her. Then she was bitten by a mystery figure. Now she has to work with a new team, and a boy that she can't seem to get away from, to find and stop him.
1. The Bite

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, nor do I own any of the characters that you recognize. All original characters are my creation, and any resemblance to persons living, dead, or fictional are complete coincidence.**

**This is set the year after season four, when Scott and company are seniors and Liam is a sophomore. (Since the season hasn't ended yet and I don't know if Derek's gonna die, he'll remain alive in this story.) Enjoy!**

* * *

"You know, you really shouldn't be here this late."

"Don't care," I replied nonchalantly.

"Uncle Max will worry about us," Candy stressed.

"Then _you_ go home and calm him down. I'll be fine."

"I know when you're upset, Maddie. Did something happen?"

"First of all, you don't know when I'm upset; stop acting like we have some kind of twin telepathy. And second, nothing happened. If you want to go, then go."

She looked reluctant to leave, but turned on her heel and walked away. Her figure disappeared and I cast a resentful glance at Beacon Hills High. Even after a whole year I still wasn't ready to stop hating it and everyone inside.

Pulling out my phone, I checked the time. It was nearing midnight already. I'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble, but I didn't really mind.

My mind was wondering when a sharp sound jolted me out of my haze. I had wandered into the woods near the school and heard something that sounded like a branch breaking. My stomach immediately dropped at the noise. Nothing in the area was big enough to make a sound that loud.

I started to exit the woods, taking the longest strides that I could without being heard. It wasn't common for us to get mountain lions, but one _did_ terrorize the area about two years ago. I wasn't about to take the chance of sticking around to find out what it was.

As I continued to leave I heard another noise. It wasn't a branch this time—it was a growl. Forgetting all about my plan to stay quiet, I broke into a run, stumbling to get out.

_Idiot_, I scolded myself as I tripped on roots in my haste. _You should've left with Candy. This school is going to be the death of you, just like it was for your parents_.

I heard heavy footsteps directly behind me just before I was tackled to the ground. I barely had time to register what was happening before I felt several sharp points piercing my abdomen. A shrill scream escaped my lips as blood began to pour from the wound.

"Welcome to the pack…" a chilling voice whispered into my ear, but when I opened my eyes, I was alone.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket, trying my hardest not to black out from the pain. I was seeing spots by the time a voice answered the phone. "911. What's your emergency?"

"I'm bleeding… Animal attack… I-I need someone to come get me."

"What is your location?"

I managed to get out a pained "Beacon Hills High" before I lost consciousness.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it! (It's a little short, but it's kind of a prologue.) I actually wrote this story about a year ago, but I eventually ditched it to move on to other things. Then, when Liam came in this season, I found someone who my main character could relate to based on age and general werewolf inexperience. So, I'm continuing it with Liam as a love interest! (Though he won't actually appear for another two chapters.)**

**So, if you did like it, leave me a review telling me why! And if not, leave a review anyway telling me how I can improve. See you next time!**


	2. New Abilities

**Thank you all so much for the favorites and follows! And a special thanks to JenRiley16, Lydia, TotalGeek17, and g, my reviewers! I really appreciated your comments!**

**I hope you like this next installment!**

* * *

"Are you sure she'll be fine?"

"The wound isn't very deep. We'll just have to keep it clean and she'll be back up in no time. But we do want to ask her a few questions about the incident."

"Oh, thank goodness. Candy, why didn't you bring her home?"

"I tried, I promise! She wouldn't leave and told me that she was fine."

"What's going on?" I finally spoke up. I was hearing voices but the room was all black. My eyes slowly fluttered open, but I had the instant urge to close them again. Everything was so bright and white compared to how it had been a second ago. Or what felt like a second ago.

"Madeline, how are you feeling?" my uncle asked from his spot by my side. I couldn't bring myself to roll my eyes at him, not when his were so full of worry.

"I'm fine, okay? Am I still bleeding?"

Looking around the room, I saw my sister and a Hispanic-looking nurse. Candy looked just as worried as Uncle Max, but the nurse just looked weary.

"You're not anymore, but there was a lot of blood before. Would it be alright if I asked you a few questions?" the nurse asked, holding up a clipboard and a pen.

"Would you like to tell me your name first?" I snapped. "I don't feel comfortable giving information to a stranger."

"Madeline!" Uncle Max scolded, but the nurse's mouth just formed a tight smile.

"My name is Melissa McCall, but you can call me Melissa if you'd like. Now, do you know what happened today?"

I thought back. "It was close to midnight. I was hanging out near the high school and Candy was with me. She left and I accidentally wandered into the woods. I heard a loud noise that a rabbit or a squirrel _couldn't_ make, so I started to leave quickly. I thought that it was a mountain lion or something, and then I heard a growl, so I ran. Then I heard something that sounded like footsteps and I was tackled and stabbed in my side." I decided to leave out the part where the thing spoke to me, as I still didn't understand that part myself.

"So was it a human or an animal?"

"I'm not sure. I had heard a growl and it felt like I had been bitten, but the thing that tackled me had felt human."

"Well, Madeline, what were you doing at the school?"

"Don't call me Madeline," I spit reflexively. "And what do you mean?"

"Were you there to make trouble? You have a record for minor vandalism."

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Why would I go vandalize with my good-girl twin sister by my side? I was just out for a late walk and I got attacked for it." I glanced at my side and I was suddenly curious. "I want to see the damage."

Melissa sighed. "It's time to change the bandage, anyway."

Melissa left the room but quickly returned with supplies. She came to my right side, passing my uncle, and lifted up the side of my hospital gown. Immediately revealed was a blood-soaked bandage. Melissa removed the tape and, upon lifting the gauze, allowed me to see what that thing had done to me. Little wounds pierced my chocolate brown skin, all of them coming together to form a mark that only teeth could make.

So one thing was certain: It was definitely an animal that bit me. But that still didn't answer the question of why it was so human-like, or why it could speak perfect English.

_"__Welcome to the pack…"_

The thought of the voice sent chills down my spine, and I almost jumped when Melissa touched me with the cold disinfectant, but I managed to contain myself.

Melissa finally finished changing my bandage. She told my uncle that he needed to sign some papers before I could leave, so they walked out and let me get dressed.

"I'm sorry," Candy said softly as I pulled on my jeans.

"Why?" I asked, unable to figure out what she possibly could've done wrong.

"I just left you. I should've tried harder to make you leave, or stayed with you to help, but instead I just left."

I gave an exaggerated sigh as I pulled my shirt over my head, taking care not to touch the bandage. "I swear, Candy, you're so sweet sometimes that it's disgusting. Don't blame yourself, because you didn't do anything."

Candy decided to just stare at me in response, which was just fine with me. Uncle Max returned shortly after that and we all left the hospital. I could feel the tension in our little car as we drove back home. It was obvious that my uncle was fuming but holding his tongue because I got hurt. I kept quiet the whole ride, agreeing to the silent deal he was making. _Don't talk about it and I won't lecture_.

Maybe I should've been happy that he was sparing me the boring rant, but I couldn't bring myself to care too much. I was still focused on what the hell had happened. None of it made any sense whatsoever. Why would an English-speaking animal maul me, just to run away?

_"__Welcome to the pack…"_

Whatever that meant, it couldn't be good.

* * *

"You know that everyone knows, right?" Abigail asked as she sat across from me and Candy at lunchtime the next day. She flipped her straight brown hair over her shoulder as she waited for my answer.

Swallowing my bite of my sandwich, I replied, "You mean my hospital visit? Because if everybody knows about that, it's probably because you told them."

"So sorry about that, but you know that I had to. I need to keep my spot as the head of gossip at this school."

"You sound like such a bad sitcom for teenagers." Abigail was most definitely my best friend, though I have no idea why. She was such a blabbermouth, and always wanted to be in the middle of everything, but I still managed to love her.

"Whatever," she answered, rolling her almond eyes at me. At least we had that in common. "So let's see the mutilation."

"But we're eating…" Candy commented, earning a sigh from me.

"Candy, why don't you go and eat with the theater kids? They're, like, your people or something," I suggested.

"Yeah, but you're my sister."

"And we need some time apart. I'll talk to you later, I promise. Go hang out with that kid, Jackson, or something."

"Jackson Nichols?" Abigail interrupted. "He's probably with Will, blazing behind the school." She emphasized her point by miming putting a joint to her mouth.

"Oh. Well, just go hang out with them anyway. You need to socialize, so go. Just don't smoke and don't get a secondhand high."

Though reluctantly, Candy finally stood up and left the lunch table.

"She needs to stop attaching to you," Abigail said once Candy was out of earshot.

"Leave it alone," I mumbled back.

"So come on, let's see it!" Abigail prompted, moving over to my side of the table. Looking around, I carefully lifted the right side of my shirt to reveal the slightly-bloodied bandage. I peeled the tape from my side, preparing to see the scabbing wound. But it wasn't there. I managed to peel off the whole bandage, but there was nothing there but smooth brown skin.

"There's nothing there," Abigail stated.

"Obviously," I bit back, turning the situation over in my head. The nurse had said that the wound wasn't bad, but it still should've taken weeks for it to return to normal. It looked like I'd never been attacked at all.

Quickly replacing the bandage, I dropped my shirt and looked around again. Thankfully, no one was watching.

"Why'd you lie?" Abigail asked me.

"I _didn't_. There was a mark there last night. Just… just keep quiet about it. If Candy finds out then she'll tell my uncle."

"I'll try."

Before I could retort, two people sat down at our table, facing me and Abigail. A tan boy with an uneven jawline and a pale boy with, admittedly, pretty hazel eyes.

"Hello?" I said blankly, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

"Hey," the pale boy said, smiling at me awkwardly.

"Abigail, who are they?" I asked her. No doubt she knew everything from their names to their toothpaste brand preference and whether they wore boxers or briefs.

She pointed to the pale one. "Stiles Stilinski—real first name is _impossible_ to pronounce. He's super smart and a senior who plays lacrosse and does cross country, but he's not that great at either. He's the son of the Sheriff, and he's dating Malia Tate." She went on as she pointed to the other boy, "Scott McCall, also a senior. _Captain_ of the lacrosse team, average intelligence, and, unfortunately, dating Kira Yukimura. Unless that's changed." She gave him her signature flirty smile.

"You're gross," I said before I registered something that she'd said. "Wait, McCall? Like Melissa McCall, the nurse?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, she's my mom."

I crossed my arms at him. "I guess she told you, then. About my accident?"

"Yeah, she did. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Yeah, and, by any chance," Stiles interrupted, "has anything weird happened?"

"Besides two seniors approaching an underclassman that they don't know? Nope," I lied. They obviously knew something, but I didn't want to give away information that I wasn't even sure about. So I fixed them with a steely glare to reinforce my lie.

"Nothing out of place, or, like, animalistic?"

"Well, considering I was attacked by an _animal_, of course something animalistic happened. And I had a mark to prove it."

"_Had_?" Scott repeated.

"_Have_." I mentally slapped myself for the slip, but I continued to stare the two boys down.

"So you're sure that you're fine?" Scott asked, seeming to resign.

"Positive. Goodbye."

The two boys got up and walked off, presumably to wherever they were before.

_"__She's lying, you know," _I heard Scott say, causing me to jump. I looked around the cafeteria, but he wasn't even in sight anymore. How was I able to hear him?

"What was that?" Abigail asked.

_"__What, you heard her heart skip?"_ That was Stile's voice.

"Are you gonna answer me?" Abigail pressed.

"Shut up for a second," I ordered, straining to hear Stiles and Scott.

_"__Yeah, I heard her heart. She definitely knows that something's up, but she probably doesn't know what."_

_"__Who do you think bit her?"_

_"__I don't know, but Derek might."_

"HEY!" Abigail yelled in my ear, causing me to jump backward and fall off my seat.

"What the hell, Abby?!" I questioned as I got back in my seat, rubbing my injured ear.

"Pay attention. What was that all about?"

"Were you even listening? I have no idea what they wanted."

"Well, whatever it is, it probably has something to do with your vanishing bite mark."

"You think so?" I asked, my hand moving to my side.

Abigail shrugged. "Maybe. Oh, and in case you were wondering, it's boxer-briefs. Both of them," she said, causing both of us to start laughing.

* * *

**I apologize for the lack of Liam, but I'm still setting the scene. But I _promise_ that he'll be in the next chapter! You can expect me to update every week on Wednesdays for at least the next month. (Next Wednesday might be a little late in the day, as I have band camp _all day_, but I'll still get it up!)**

**Also, I've decided to start doing a question of the week kind of thing, to make this a little more interactive. So, this week's question is: Who is your favorite OC thus far? Is it Maddie, Candy, Abigail, or even just a character that was mentioned in passing? Leave your answers as a review!**

**You can also leave me a review so I know how you felt about this chapter in general! Until next time!**


	3. Let's Make a Deal

**Hey! So, as you may have noticed, it's not Wednesday (depending on when you're reading this). But I've got band camp tomorrow from 9-8, and, if my missing last night's episode of Teen Wolf is any indication, I won't be able to keep my eyes open. So I'm updating today instead! (And no spoilers please!)**

**Thanks for all of the favorites and follows, and a special thanks to Lydia, letsnotbetaken, and becca1130 for their reviews! Now let's get to the chapter! It's nice and long!**

* * *

"Okay," I said as I closed my locker, turning to Abigail. "I _guess_ Superman would beat Captain America in a fight, but that doesn't change the fact that Superman has a basic-ass name, and _doesn't_ have Thor backing him up. The Hulk can't even lift as much as Thor."

"You're over-geeking a little," Abigail giggled out as we made our way to honors chemistry. "Hey, go ahead without me. I need to talk to Holly Wilson about something."

"Whatever," I replied, continuing into the classroom. I collapsed into the chair at my black lab desk, shrugging my backpack off my shoulders. I reached into it, retrieving my notebook, my periodic table, and a pencil, when I felt someone sit down beside me.

"Hey," they said, and I moved back, surprised that it wasn't Abigail's voice. I looked up and saw that it was some guy. I had seen him in class and around school before, but I'd never actually bothered to learn his name or anything about him.

"I don't know you," I said bluntly.

"Oh, sorry. My name's Liam Dunbar." He looked as if he was waiting for me to introduce myself.

"That's my friend's seat. You need to move."

"That's my seat," Abigail echoed me, entering suddenly. "Why are you sitting in it?"

He turned around to look at her, giving her a smile, but Abigail's eyes widened in what seemed to be fear. "Is it okay if I sit here today? I need to talk to your friend. You can have my seat next to my friend Mason." He pointed toward the other end of the room.

She nodded timidly, before shuffling over to me and leaning down to whisper in my ear. "Be careful with him. He's got Intermittent Explosive Disorder; he _literally_ might kill you if you make him angry." She stood up straight and gave him a quick, forced smile before making a beeline for her new seat.

I shook my head as the bell rang, and opened up my notebook to begin the warm up.

"Your name's Maddie, right?" Liam asked, opening his notebook as well. I simply nodded at his question, but avoided making eye contact. "Are you always this talkative?" he joked.

"With strangers? Pretty much." I glanced over at my calculator as I tried to figure out the wavelength of the photon in the problem.

"Do you understand this stuff? It doesn't really make sense to me."

"That's too bad. We're only two weeks into the school year; I hate to see what you'll be like by the end of the semester." I huffed out a huge breath, before turning to actually look at him. "What do you _really_ want from me?"

He seemed to hesitate before answering my question. "I want… help. I don't really understand what's going on, and I need—"

"A tutor?" I finished for him. "Why would you come to me about that? Why not ask one of your friends?"

He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't want for them to know that I'm not good at chemistry. Besides, I've seen you working in here. You're obviously good at this."

"So?"

"_So_, I was hoping that you'd be able to help me sometime. Today afterschool, maybe?"

"My uncle wants me to go straight home afterschool."

"You don't really seem like the type to listen to your uncle," he said, his eyes drifting to where my wound used to be.

I scoffed at him. "I guess you heard about my attack, huh? Well, whatever you _think_ you know, you're wrong. You don't know anything about me; only what you've heard about me."

"Then let's talk. Afterschool, over a chemistry book."

"Stop talking, Liam," our teacher, Mr. Burns, demanded. How on earth he heard us all the way from the front of the room, I have no idea.

I looked back down at my paper, before whispering to Liam, "Give me your number after class. And I want twenty bucks."

"Seriously?" he whispered back.

"Yeah, seriously. Help isn't cheap." I glanced over at his paper. "And you got that problem wrong. Consider that a freebie."

* * *

"Just tell me!" Abigail whined for the millionth time. "What did he want?"

"I'm not telling you," I replied, getting tired of having to say the same thing over again. "If I tell you, you'll just blab to the whole school. I love ya, Abby, but I can't tell you stuff like this. Which reminds me: Don't you dare say anything to _anyone_ about my vanishing bite mark."

"I already said that I would try to keep it secret. And that's why you should tell me what Liam talked to you about!"

"I'm gonna punch you in the face."

"Maddie, why aren't you on the bus?" Candy asked as she approached us. "Uncle Max wants for you to go home and rest."

I searched for a way to explain my situation to her, without tipping off Abigail. "Candy, I've… made other plans. Tell Uncle Max that I'm not at home because I'm studying, and that I'll be home in a couple of hours."

Her eyes widened at my request. "You want me to lie?"

"Not really lie, since it's actually true; I'm just not telling you _everything_."

She straightened up. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I can't tell Uncle Max because I'm hanging out with Jack. _With permission_, might I add."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Liam wave me over from outside of a bus. "That's great. Just remember my advice and don't smoke, but I've gotta go. See you both later." Abigail and Candy waved at me as I walked over to Liam.

"We can take the bus to my house," he said, gesturing for me to step inside of it.

"I figured," I replied sarcastically. I climbed onto the bus, Liam at my heels, and looked for an empty seat. I was able to find one near the front (where no one wanted to sit) and dropped myself into it. Liam sat down next to me, but made sure to maintain his distance.

We didn't talk the whole ride. I mostly stared out the window at the passing scenery, and Liam was constantly checking his phone. The bus finally pulled to a stop, and Liam and I were two of the first people off. He walked me directly to his house, but we stopped once we reached the front door.

"So," I began, breaking the silence, "do your parents know that you're bringing a girl home today, or should I prepare myself for the shocked stares?"

"They're not home," he answered, unlocking the door. "They're both still at work."

"So you're sneaking me in?" I asked as he pushed the door open, letting us both in. "I didn't expect that from you."

"I wouldn't really call it 'sneaking', but whatever." He shut the front door. "Why don't we both go down to the basement?"

"You know, one of the creepiest things that you can _ever_ say to a girl that you just met is 'why don't we go down to the basement'." I took a good look around the room, quickly noticing all of the pictures of a boy that wasn't Liam. "Especially when it's not even your basement."

"What do you mean?" he asked, and it was like I could smell the nervousness radiating off of him.

"Next time you wanna sneak a girl into _someone else's_ house, at least take down all of the pictures of them. Because, last time I checked, you're not Scott McCall."

"Damn it!" I heard someone exclaim from upstairs, causing my head to snap in that direction.

"Who's that?!" I yelled back, and Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski emerged from the top floor.

"Why does your mom have to love you so much?" Stiles complained to Scott, but Scott ignored him.

"Hey, Maddie," Scott greeted me. "How are you?"

"Peachy," I responded shortly, before setting my sights on Liam. "You lied to me. I mean, I knew you were lying to me about something, so I'm not really shocked, but you lied to me."

"I needed to get you here," he said, and his voice sounded sincere, but I brushed it off.

"Why? Why is it so important that I'm here?" I whipped back around to look at Scott and Stiles. "And why do you two keep bothering me?"

"We need to talk to you about what happened in the woods, when you were attacked," Scott admitted. "We might be able to help you, but you have to talk to us."

My eyes narrowed as I looked around at the three of them. "Fine. I'll talk. But first I need the twenty dollars that I was promised for coming here."

"Wait—what?!" Stiles exclaimed, looking to Liam. "You promised her _twenty dollars_ to come here?!"

Liam shrugged at him. "It was the only way I could get her to come."

A devilish smirk played on my lips. "That's right. So, that'll be fifty dollars to get me to talk."

"_Fifty_? It was just twenty!" Stiles whined.

"A hundred bucks or I walk out right now."

"Stiles, stop arguing," Scott sighed, reaching into his pocket. Stiles rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket as well. They both pulled out their wallets and paid me the hundred dollars. "Now tell us what happened."

"Fine," I answered, cramming the money into my back pocket. "I was attacked, as you all know. At first I thought that it was a mountain lion, since there have been mountain lion attacks in Beacon Hills before. But when the thing actually caught me, it felt like a human. It bit me, like an animal, but then…" Chills traveled down my back as I thought of the words. "Then it spoke to me. It said 'welcome to the pack' before leaving."

Stiles' face clearly conveyed worry, but Scott remained calm. "Did anything else happen?" he asked.

"Yeah." I lifted up the side of my shirt, revealing the bandage. I quickly peeled it off, revealing once again that my wound had disappeared. "The bite mark is gone. _That_ is something that I'd really like an explanation to."

"Aw, hell," Stiles groaned. "Didn't we _just_ have to deal with this?"

"Deal with what?" I asked, lowering my shirt.

"Don't freak out," Scott said calmly. "But… you were bitten by a werewolf. And, since your wound is gone, that means that… that you're a werewolf, too."

"A werewolf?" I repeated. "Like in the books with werewolves and vampires fighting each other?"

"Vampires don't exist," Stiles informed me.

"I'm sorry, you're just so pale that I assumed. My bad."

"Hurtful," he replied, holding up a finger at me.

"Besides, you're trying to sell _werewolves_ to me; vampires aren't so far-fetched. Especially since both _aren't real_."

As soon as I said it, I heard a growl from behind me, extremely similar to the one that I had heard that night in the woods. I jumped at the sound, quickly turning around to see Liam. Except, he looked different. His face was contorted into something near-unrecognizable, with hair and fangs and glowing yellow eyes. His arms were defensively at his sides, and claws were protruding from his fingertips.

Almost as soon as he had changed, he was back to normal, staring at me with eyes that were practically screaming "I told you so".

"Now do you believe us?" he asked.

I quickly regained my composure, crossing my arms at him. "You have my attention. But how does that tie into the vanishing wound?"

"You're a werewolf too," Scott reminded me. "And one of the abilities of werewolves is accelerated healing."

"_One_ of the abilities? So there are more?"

"Way more. But you have to learn how to control it, or you'll be a serious danger to yourself and everyone around you. We can help you learn control, and keep you from hurting anyone, but we need something from you in return."

I raised my eyebrow, giving a short, humorless chuckle before making my way towards the door. "There _had_ to be a catch," I muttered to myself.

"Whoa," Liam said, putting his arm in my way. I glared at him, attempting to intimidate him, but we both knew that I could never actual beat him in a physical fight. "It's not a catch. We just wanna catch whoever it is that bit you."

"Why?"

"Well," Stiles interjected, "it was originally just to figure out who was lurking around the woods and taking it upon themselves to bite a high school student. But now it seems like it's something much bigger."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, seeming to be just as confused as I was.

"According to her, after he bit her, he said 'welcome to the pack'. That's gotta mean something." He looked around at all of us before continuing. "I think that someone's building a pack in Beacon Hills. And I don't think that we're going to like the reason why." His eyes settled on me. "That's why we need you: to keep us updated and to find out what's going on."

"Basically, a wolfed-out little spy," I stated.

"If you wanna put it that way, then sure."

"But we need for you to agree to cooperate," Scott said.

I paused for a moment, surveying the three boys standing in front of me. "Okay," I said, nodding my head slightly. "I'll do it. But you have to understand that I don't know if I'll be of any help." I turned to look at Liam. "And no more lying to me to get me to go places. If you want my trust, that's not how you're going to earn it."

"Deal," Stiles agreed. "No more lying."

"_Or_ truth omission," I added, covering my bases. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

He sighed. "Apparently not."

"Also, I need a ride home," I said, ignoring Stiles' comment. "If we're done here."

"I'm driving!" Stiles announced, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. We all made our way outside, and Stiles led us to an old Jeep. He and Scott sat in the front seat, leaving the back for Liam and me.

"I'm sorry for lying to you about today," Liam apologized.

"That's great," I answered shortly.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm actually not great at chemistry. I wouldn't mind a little help, since we'll already be spending some time together."

"Twenty bucks," I said, not missing a beat.

He groaned. "Are you still on that?"

"Help isn't cheap," I replied, repeating my answer from earlier. "But I'm busy tomorrow; I have plans with my friend."

"Not anymore you don't," Stiles interrupted, glancing at us in the rearview mirror.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," I snapped at him. "And what are you talking about?"

"There's a full moon tomorrow night, and we can't let you out of our sight."

I rolled my eyes. "Really? A full moon? Could this get any more cliché?"

"Hey, if you wanna rip your family's faces off, then be my guest; we're just trying to help."

I turned my head to look out the window. "So I'm being babysat now?"

"Yep," Stiles responded wholeheartedly. "So you're gonna meet us in front of the school tomorrow, and we're taking you to a place where you can wolf out in pseudo-peace. And where am I supposed to turn?"

"Just make a right and go to the end of the street."

Stiles followed my directions, and soon enough we were outside of my house. Scott got out of his seat up front and allowed me to exit the Jeep. He offered his hand to help me down, but I rejected it and made my way out by myself.

"So, we'll see you tomorrow, right?" Scott asked me.

"I guess I don't have a choice," I shot back, already walking towards my door. Scott climbed back into the car and Stiles drove off, finally leaving me alone.

* * *

**Seriously though guys, band camp is killing me. Standing for over ten hours a day _while_ exercising is killing my poor little feet (and I'm flat-footed so it's so bad!). *Sigh* But I love colorguard so much that it's worth it. ****Anyway, I'll likely see you guys next Wednesday, either before four o'clock or at about nine.**

**Question of the Chapter: How would you react if you were in Maddie's situation? I know that I would do something so opposite of her, so what about you guys? I really liked reading your answers last time,so keep it up!**

**Remember to review and let me know how your feeling! Later!**


	4. Side Effects

**I'm so sorry for missing Wednesday. But as any of you in marching band know, band camp is no joke. It takes _forever_ to end, no matter how fun it can be. But I'm here now!**

**I'd like to thank becca1130, Lydia, Guest, and guest97 for reviewing! To Lydia, I do love marching band and band camp, but it's exhausting. I hope your cousin found something that she likes! ****  
**

**This one's pretty long, so I hope you like it!**

* * *

"I thought that you went somewhere," Candy said to me as she walked through the front door. "But I didn't get a call from Uncle Max asking where you were."

I turned off the TV before shifting from my lounging position on the couch to sit upright. "I _did_ go somewhere; I just got back before Uncle Max came home."

"Oh." She walked over to the couch and sat down next to me. "So what were you really doing?"

"I was figuring some stuff out. Don't worry about it."

"I thought that you were studying."

"Isn't figuring things out basically what studying is?"

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's always semantics with you, isn't it?"

My lips morphed into a smirk. "You've gotta love it. But, away from the subject of me, what were you and Jack doing?" I raised my eyebrow at her, tucking a strand of her curly black hair behind her ear. "Were you on a date with him?"

She moved my hand away, giving me a small smile. "We just talked. He invited some of our friends, too, so it _wasn't_ a date."

"As long as you weren't smoking, that's fine. I've seen some of those kids after they've taken a hit, and they're not the kind of company that a girl like you would want to keep."

She nodded her head as the doorbell rang.

"That must be the pizza Uncle Max ordered," I said, standing up from the couch. "Can you get the money from him, please?"

* * *

"So, what happened?" Abigail ambushed me as soon as I stepped off the bus the next day.

"She 'figured stuff out'," Candy mimicked me, using my words from before.

"Shut up, Candy," I said, walking ahead of both of them. "Besides, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me," Abigail reprimanded as we walked into the school. "I saw you get on a bus with Liam yesterday. Are you secretly dating him?"

"I don't even know him."

"But you _were_ with him yesterday. Just tell me what you were doing!"

"Nothing!" I stopped walking and spun around to face the two of them. "You're both pissing me off. Look, if I had something to say to either of you, then I'd say it. But I don't."

"Well, I still think you're lying," Candy said, "but I can't force you to tell me anything. So I'll see you later."

"She might not be able to force you, but I can," Abigail informed me as Candy walked away.

"No, you can't," I told her, and continued my journey to my locker. As soon as we turned the corner to get to the locker bank, I saw Liam, waiting by my locker with his arms crossed.

"Oh, that's creepy," Abigail voiced my thoughts. "Doesn't he scare you?"

The image of Liam with glowing yellow eyes and razor-sharp claws and teeth flashed across my mind. "Nope," I lied seamlessly. "Does he scare you?"

"Absolutely. He's got IED, and now he's stalking you. I'm terrified, and I'm getting out of here." She placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't be the dumb chick in the horror movie," before sprinting off.

I let out a large breath of air before walking up to Liam. "You're taking this really seriously, aren't you?"

"I have to," he answered. "You can literally kill people if no one's there to help you. I've been dealing with this for _months_ and I'm still not in full control on a full moon."

"I don't recall asking for your life story." I broke eye contact with him as I opened my locker and began exchanging my notebooks.

"Whatever. How are you feeling?"

"Like today's going to be a long day."

"Be serious. I mean, do you feel out of control or uneasy? Or like you could snap at any moment?"

"No more so than usual." I slammed my locker door shut. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I looked back into his eyes. "Why? Do you feel that way?"

His eyes left mine as they looked me up and down, examining my body. "In a sense." He looked me in the eyes again as he said, "The full moon can make you feel a lot of things."

I gave a tight smile. "You're a creepy kid, Liam. I'd call you a lunatic if that joke weren't in such bad taste."

"_Very_ bad taste," he confirmed as the warning bell rang. "You should get to class. I'll see you at lunch."

"We're really doing this, aren't we?"

He uncrossed his arms as he pushed himself off the wall, securing his backpack on his shoulders. "Scott's my alpha, and he told me to keep an eye on you, so that's what I'm gonna do. If you start to feel less like yourself, then call me."

"Sure thing, boss," I said sarcastically before walking off to my class.

* * *

"You know, keeping this secret from me can be considered a form of torture," Abigail opened as soon as she saw me at lunch. "My need-to-know-it-all syndrome is acting up."

"Shut up," I responded, my voice strained. Whatever Liam was talking about earlier, I was definitely starting to feel it. My whole body was shaking, and it felt like I'd caught a severe case of the flu in the past couple of hours.

"Well, you did blow me off—whoa, are you okay?" she asked as she got a closer look at me. "You're all sweaty."

"You think I don't know that?!" I snapped at her, and suddenly my hands felt really strange. I looked down at them and saw that my nails had elongated into claws, just like Liam's.

"Follow me," someone ordered me, grabbing me by the arm and standing me up. "And keep your eyes closed."

I followed their instructions as soon as I realized that the voice was Liam's, also shoving my hands into my jacket pockets as he led me away from Abigail. I had no idea where we were going until he stopped me and told me that I could open my eyes.

Snapping my eyes open, I noticed that we were in a locker room shower. Upon further inspection, I found Scott and Stiles standing in the doorway of the shower, and Liam was directly in front of me.

"What are they doing here?" I asked Liam, nodding in the seniors' direction.

"I texted them to come. In case I need help."

"Help with wh—" I was cut off as Liam forcefully pushed me against the shower wall, and freezing cold water immediately walloped me in the back of the head. I yanked my hands from my pockets, but Liam's hands wrapped around my wrists, holding me to the wall.

I felt my teeth grow as a loud roar escaped my mouth. I attempted to fight him off, using my feet in place of my immobilized hands, but nothing worked. Liam's eyes were glowing yellow, and I could tell that he was using his superior strength to keep me in place. My attempts to claw his face off gradually died down as the cold water chilled me down to my bones. Soon enough I felt my teeth and nails return to normal, and Liam released my wrists.

"You did well," Scott praised as he entered the shower. He placed a hand on Liam's shoulder as he looked between the two of us. "Both of you did well."

"Thanks," Liam said, but I remained silent.

"Do you have anything to say?" Scott asked me.

"I wanted to hurt her," I confessed. "Abigail. She said something so trivial, and it wasn't even unlike her to say it, but I wanted to hurt her for it. Badly."

"That's just a taste of what the full moon does to you," Stiles interjected, walking into the shower as well. "Now do you see why you need us, and why you have to cooperate?"

I glared at him for his comment. "I'm soaking wet," I said, deciding to not answer Stiles. "What am I supposed to do about this?"

"Liam, get her cleaned up," Scott instructed him. "Call if you need anything." He and Stiles turned and exited the shower.

Liam looked at me and extended his hand. "I can walk," I informed him, crossing my arms. "Just find me a towel."

Liam sighed, walking out of the shower, and I followed after him. He found a (hopefully clean) towel and handed it to me, also talking one for himself. We both sat down on a wooden bench as we began to dry off.

"Why the hell would you push me into a cold shower?" I asked, rubbing the water off my face.

"It calms you down—cold water slows down your heart rate."

"But you had to get me wet from head to toe?" I ran the towel over my hair, attempting to loosen the jet black tangles. "You should never get a black girl's hair wet without her permission."

He smiled at my joke. "Sorry. But at least you didn't hurt anyone."

"I did get pretty intense, though. How exactly are you guys planning on restraining me when the moon is actually out?"

"Chains, mostly. Also, Scott will be there, and the rest of the pack."

"There are more of you?" I made a face at the idea of more people monitoring my actions.

"Just a couple, I promise. And they're girls, so you have a better chance of getting along with them."

"I don't exactly do well with other girls. I don't exactly do well with other _people_ in general."

"Why not?"

"That's none of your business," I spit venomously, my stare suddenly becoming sharp. "I've already told you that I don't talk to strangers."

His eyes scanned over my body, just like earlier in the hall. When his eyes met mine, they were glowing yellow again. "Okay. Let's not talk."

Before I could ask what he meant, he leaned forward and attached his lips to mine, pulling me against him roughly. Instinctively I kissed him back, and I heard a low growl emit from his throat as his lips moved over mine. His breathing got heavier, and I felt little sharp points poking at my waist.

I was suddenly pulled back into reality a few moments later, and I pushed him away and stood up from the bench. He looked up at me, a confused look etched on his face.

"I'm gonna go," I announced, and left without another word.

I made a beeline for my locker, leaning against it to catch my breath. "Damn it," I muttered to myself.

"You're dripping," I heard Abigail's voice say. I looked up and found her standing next to me, holding my backpack.

"Thanks for the heads-up," I retorted, standing up straight. She handed my bag to me and I opened my locker to get my new notebooks.

"Interestingly enough," Abigail continued, "I saw Liam on my way over here, and he wasn't exactly dry either."

"What are you insinuating?"

"Nothing. You've just started spending a lot of time with him, really suddenly. It feels like you've been ditching me for some kid with anger issues."

I shut my locker door as the warning bell rang. "I'm not ditching you. I was just having a panic attack, and I guess he's got experience with them," I lied, walking towards our science class.

She raised an eyebrow at me as we entered the classroom. "A panic attack? Really?"

"Yeah. Everybody gets them," I said, still attempting to wring the excess water out of my hair. "One way to get rid of them is to get sprayed with cold water, so we did that."

"Whatever," she replied, sitting down at her desk. "At least he's not in my seat again."

"See? I told you that I'm not ditching you for him."

"I guess you're right; I'm overreacting a little. So, what movie are we watching tonight?"

"Movie?" I asked flippantly, before the realization hit me. "Oh crap."

"What do you mean 'oh crap'? It's Tuesday. Tuesday is Movie Night." She narrowed her eyes at me. "_Don't_ tell me that you made other plans."

"Okay… I won't tell you."

"Maddie!" she exclaimed. "What can you possibly be doing that's more important than Movie Night?"

"I'm… doing something with Liam." She was my best friend, and as much as I didn't want to let her in on what was going on, I didn't want to keep lying to her.

"You _are_ ditching me for him!"

"I'm _not_! But something important is going on, and it absolutely _has_ to happen tonight. …But I need you to tell my uncle that I was at your house anyway."

She turned to face forward, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know, if you wanna date him you can just say so. You don't have to be all secretive about it."

I opened my mouth to correct her, but decided that it would be better for both of us if I just let her believe that. At least I wasn't actively lying to her.

I looked over at Liam and saw him staring in our direction, but he turned his head as soon as he saw me.

* * *

"So, this is how it's gonna work," Stiles began as we stepped out of his Jeep in front of some loft. "The owner of this loft is out of town, but he has given us permission to tie you both up in here for the night."

"Fantastic," I said sarcastically, crossing my arms. I looked over at Liam, who was looking everywhere except for at me. We hadn't said a word to each other since the kiss, and now he was refusing to even glance my way. It was actually pretty rude, considering the fact that _he_ had kissed _me_.

"Let's go," Scott said to me, carrying an armful of heavy-duty chains. I followed them into the loft, where three girls were waiting. "Maddie, these are our other pack members: Lydia, Kira, and Malia."

"Hi," Kira greeted cheerily, while the other two just waved.

"So, what exactly is this going to accomplish?" Lydia asked Scott, who unloaded his armful of chains in the corner.

"Well, it'll definitely keep her from killing people," Scott answered.

"And, if the alpha that bit her comes looking for her, we'll be able to catch him," Stiles added.

"Do you really think that he'd be that dumb?" Malia pressed. "There are so many supernatural creatures in here that he'll be able to smell us a mile away. Why would he show up?"

"It's our best plan right now, okay? When you come up with something better, let me know." Stiles sat Liam down in one corner of the loft and began tying him up.

"Why is he getting tied up?" I asked Scott as he came over to me.

He sat me down on the floor and kneeled in front of me before answering. "Liam's only been at this for a few months; he still can't really control himself during the full moon."

"This is gonna go on for _months_?"

"Maybe not for you. Liam's got IED, so it's naturally harder for him to control his emotions in general, and especially his anger. You'll probably have a lot more control over yourself, especially if you work at it." Scott placed a lock on the chains that were wrapped around my left wrist.

"I almost killed my best friend today," I reminded him.

"That's normal. I almost killed Stiles at first. The full moon gives you a certain uncontrollable bloodlust. Especially your first one." He placed a lock around my other wrist's chains and stood up. "How does that feel?"

I tugged at my restraints. "Fine for now, I guess. I don't think I'll be able to get out."

"Good. It's probably better for us to not be down here and agitate you guys, so we'll be having a pack meeting upstairs. Just yell if you need us, and we'll hear." Scott walked upstairs, followed by the rest of the pack, excluding Liam.

I looked over at the large bay window and saw that the sun was setting.

"It's gonna be an interesting night," I muttered to myself.

* * *

**Oh my goodness, they kissed! I bet a bunch of you weren't expecting that! ****I hope that this chapter and that surprise were both worth that wait. This time, I have two end-of-chapter questions instead of one!**

**If you were in Maddie's situation, what would you have told Abigail?**

**And, how do you think Maddie and Liam's relationship will progress from here?**

**Let me know in the review section! And feel free to tell me anything else that you thought about this chapter. Until next time!**


	5. The First Moon

**Hey! Apologies for my leave of absence, but junior year is no joke. AP classes out the wazoo tend to wear a girl out. So updating might be a little less regular, but I'll still try my best to get you guys chapters.**

**There weren't any reviews for the last chapter, so there's no one to thank this time around. It's actually a little upsetting, 'cause I was really looking forward to hearing what you guys had to say about the kiss :(. Oh well. Let it go and all of that. But here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Pain. Pure, unbridled pain was all I felt.

A couple of hours after being tied up, the moon was rising in the sky, and it wasn't having a good effect on neither me nor Liam. We were both breathing heavily, teeth and claws bared, and we were both glistening with sweat. And—I couldn't speak for Liam, but—I wanted nothing more than to get across the room and rip him to shreds (and possibly eat him, because I was _starving_).

I was constantly yanking on my restraints, attempting to lunge at him. My wrists were raw from all of the rubbing against the metal, but I didn't care. I could only see red as I continually tried to reach him. He, however, was actually doing quite well. He sat in one place, staring at me, and aside from his breathing and the occasional growl, he was pretty silent.

Then he surprised me by actually speaking. "I'm sorry," he snarled.

"For what?" I asked, not ceasing in my attempts to kill him.

"For the kiss. I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the full moon; it brings out stuff in you that you wouldn't expect. Anger, bloodlust…" his eyes swept over me again, "…regular lust—it takes those feelings and amplifies them."

"The full moon is _not_ an excuse! Stop blaming it for everything!" I yelled.

"Then you really wanted to kill your friend?!" he shot back.

I almost replied, but then a noise rippled through the air—a loud, piercing noise that could've made my ears bleed. My hands went up to cover my ears as I tried in vain to block the sound out. I howled loudly as I began to fight against my chains again, my motivation reignited.

"What are you doing?" Liam asked concernedly, just as I managed to set one arm free. I flexed my wrist before immediately trying to let my other arm loose.

"Scott! Scott!" Liam yelled, probably alerting Scott to my jailbreak-in-progress. The rest of the pack rushed downstairs, but by the time they all made it down my other set of chains had been broken.

I turned to face them, and I could feel my eyes burning intensely. Kira drew a samurai sword while Scott and Malia's claws shot out; all of their eyes began to glow.

I knew I couldn't fight them, as it was just me against three experienced whatever-they-weres. I looked around the loft, searching for a quick way out, and found the bay window. Without a second's hesitation, I ran for the bay window and pounced on it, breaking through to the other side.

I landed on a balcony, but didn't pause to digest my surroundings. I simply made my way down to the ground as quickly as possible.

"Maddie!" Scott yelled from the loft, but I ignored him and kept on running. I had the strangest desire to follow the sound, despite the fact that it was splitting my ears. The world started to disappear around me as I sunk deeper into a primal stage.

I eventually sprinted into the woods, dodging trees and fallen branches with amazing agility. I only stopped when I saw the full moon through a gap in the treetops. The moonlight washed over me, and I let out a loud howl, which was immediately met with another.

I almost started running for the sound when a smell wafted by. It smelled like… food!

I immediately changed my path, now chasing a smell instead of a sound, my surroundings still fading into darkness. The last thing I saw was a white ball of fur before I blacked out.

* * *

"Maddie, wake up…" a far-away voice beckoned. I started to stir, slowly opening my eyes.

As I opened them fully, I saw Scott standing over me. "What happened?" I asked, but my voice came out muffle. My mouth felt fuzzy, and I looked down and saw something white right below my nose. Sitting up, I grabbed at it and pulled it from my mouth, only to find a bloody rabbit carcass.

"Oh my god!" I screeched, dropping the dead animal and crawling away from it. "What did I do?!"

"You were running somewhere," Scott began to explain. "Then you just kind of changed directions. We found you eating a rabbit, and you tried to run away again but Malia punched you in the face."

"You're welcome," Malia said.

"Thank you?" I replied, before looking back at Scott. "Where was I going?"

"We're gonna find out," he assured me. "But first we need to hurry back to the loft; the night's not over yet, and the moon can turn you back at any moment."

He held out his hand, but I opted for standing up by myself.

"Is it safe for her to run?" Kira asked him. "We really need to go—Stiles and Lydia are alone with Liam, and if she could break out then he might too."

Scott turned to look at me and shrugged. "You've gotta learn control some time. If we all run close by, you could probably do it."

"More running?" I grumbled, then gave a loud sigh. "Fine. But you better stop me if I start to go crazy."

"Of course," Scott guaranteed.

The three of them surrounded to me, Scott behind me and Kira and Malia on my sides. I took a deep breath, shifting my position, and took off. I wasn't nearly as agile as before, as I was using all of my concentration to stay normal, so I was tripping over my own feet left and right. The three seniors stayed close to me, seemingly dodging all obstacles with ease.

_Hopefully I'll learn to control this, and fast_, I thought. Not being in control of my own actions was terrifying, and there was nothing that I could do about it. I couldn't help but wonder what would've happened had I run into a normal person in the woods. _It wouldn't have been a rabbit that I'd killed…_

Several minutes later, we were approaching the loft. We walked back up, finding Stiles and Lydia sitting across from Liam, who was still chained up and snarling like when we'd left him.

"So what are we supposed to do with her?" Stiles asked. "If she can just break out of her chains like that, then there's no point in tying her up."

"First we need to figure out what made her strong enough to leave in the first place," Scott told him, before turning to look at me. "So what happened?"

I shrugged at his question. "I don't know. I was just sitting there, talking to Liam about how he—" I paused when I saw him shake his head "—talking to Liam about how he's doing with controlling himself, when I heard this really high-pitched noise. It hurt my ears like hell, but I was sort of… drawn to it. It felt like I _had_ to find the source of the noise, and the next thing I knew I was out of my chains and running through the woods."

"Do you think it was the alpha?" Lydia suggested. "The one that bit her?"

"Why would I want to go to him?" I asked incredulously. "He attacked me; I don't wanna be anywhere near him."

"It's not about what you _want_. Alphas have a sort of telepathic connection to their betas, and they can use it to call their betas to them. It's your natural instinct to run whenever he calls you."

"Oh, _perfect_," I mumbled sarcastically. "So how do I stop that?"

"Right now I don't think you can. I think that you have to learn control first."

"Well, until then," Stiles intervened, "how can we use this to our advantage?"

"We can't," Kira said. "He can probably smell us coming. I think that's why he didn't try to make contact with her just now."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Wait until he—or she, since we don't know _anything_ about this person—bites someone else? What do we do when we've got a whole pack of untrained werewolves on our hands?"

"We'll deal with it," Scott said with an air of finality. "But right now we need to focus on getting through tonight without any wolf-related deaths."

"Except for that rabbit," Malia muttered as they all started to move around the loft.

"Wait!" I called, getting them all to stop. "Do I not get any say in this?"

"No, you don't," Lydia answered. "Sorry to tell you this, but you don't get a say in anything until you're more in control."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but didn't respond. Instead, I walked over to the wall where Liam was chained up and slid down to the floor next to him. "You owe me," I whispered, my voice just loud enough that only he could hear me, even though the others had super-hearing.

"Fine," he whispered back, not turning his head to look at me.

* * *

**So, that was Maddie's first full moon! Quite eventful if you ask me (though I _might_ be a lil biased). Anyway, it's time for the Question of the Chapter!**

**Were you in Maddie's position, would you have told the pack about you and Liam?**

**Let me know in the comments! Also let me know about any other thoughts you had about the chapter! Until next time!**


	6. Your What?

**Hello people! So, the good news is that I can almost toss a triple on rifle (and I started a month ago, so that's great). The bad news is that I nearly broke three of my fingers doing it, and now it hurts to type, jacking up both my writing and my school work. I should be fine in a few days, but my joints lock up at random times, so that's awful. This is basically my long-winded way of saying "Sorry for the MIA-ness as of late, but trying to be good enough for colleges takes it's toll, physically and mentally."**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! There were no reviews last chapter again (I'm having a dry spell), so there's no one to thank again. Hopefully that changes this time, though! See you at the bottom!**

* * *

"Wake up," a voice stirred me from my sleep. I opened my eyes and quickly realized that I was still in the loft from last night. It was still kind of dark, but I could tell that the moon was finally going down, signaling the end of my first full moon as a werewolf.

"What time is it?" someone next to me muttered. I then realized that I was leaning on Liam, who was no longer wolfed out and back to looking human. I pushed myself off of him and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"It's almost 5:30," Scott's voice answered.

"Then why are we awake?" I questioned.

"Everyone in this loft needs to shower and get ready for school, so we have to be up _right now_."

"School?" I repeated.

"Yeah, school. Just because we're dealing with the supernatural doesn't mean that we can drop out of life."

I sighed as I began to stand up. "Fine. But I left my stuff in the Jeep."

"Me too," Liam added, standing up as well. "We'll go and get them."

"Okay…" Scott said, looking between the two of us. "Just hurry back."

"No problem." I walked over to the table to get the car keys before heading towards the door, Liam by my side.

We both made our way downstairs and outside. We had made it all the way to the car before Liam decided to speak.

"Thanks for not saying anything," he said.

"I don't get you, Dunbar," I said simply as I unlocked the door.

"Excuse me?"

"_You_ approached _me_. _You_ followed _me_. _You_ kissed _me_. And yet you want me to keep my mouth shut about all of it? I don't understand why you would pursue a girl and then try to hide it; it just doesn't make any sense." I grabbed my tote bag from inside and stepped aside to allow him to get his stuff.

"First of all, I didn't 'pursue' you. I was just doing my job."

"And your job included kissing me?"

He clenched his jaw. "I've already explained that to you."

"Right, you gave me a BS explanation blaming the full moon for something that _you_ did."

He stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut. I jumped slightly at his actions, but tried to recover quickly. "We're done talking about this," he growled out, staring me down.

I returned his glare, looking away only to lock the car doors. "Fine. Have it your way." I pushed past him, intentionally bumping him with my shoulder. But I stopped a few feet away from him. "Just be glad that I'm not the type of girl to make a big deal out of her first kiss." Without turning to look at him, I continued walking back towards the loft. Maybe it was the rabbit from the night before, but I suddenly had a bad taste in my mouth that I was hoping a shower would wash away.

"Where were you last night?" Candy asked me as soon as I'd made it through our front door.

I set down my tote bag by the door, simultaneously adjusting my backpack. "I was at Abigail's house. Just like every Tuesday."

"No, you weren't." She glanced over her shoulder before continuing in a hushed tone, "Abigail called and asked if I knew anything about where you were."

"Since when do you and Abigail call each other?" I asked, walking back out of the door to walk to the bus stop.

Candy followed me, locking our front door behind her. "Since you started lying to her about what you're doing all the time."

"I didn't lie. I told her that I'd be with Liam, and I was. That sounds like the truth to me."

"Yeah, well, what were you doing with him?"

"That's none of your business!" Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of our school bus pulling up to the bus stop.

"Yes, it is! You're my sister; if something's wrong with you then it's _absolutely_ my business!"

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Look, we can either argue about this, or we can go catch our bus."

Her face contorted into a look of confusion as she glanced over to our bus stop to inspect my claim. Her eyes went wide as she realized that I was right. "Oh, crap."

"I suggest that we run," I said, and I was off before she could respond. The new werewolf powers weren't all bad, as they allowed me to make it to the bus in enough time to ensure that I wasn't seated next to Candy. However, they didn't stop her from giving me a dirty look as she passed by me.

A few minutes later the bus was pulling up in front of Beacon Hills High. I rushed off of it as soon as possible to avoid my nosy twin sister, going at a speed that was almost worthy of being deemed a sprint.

I headed straight for my locker, and I was immediately met by the person that I wanted to see the least: Liam. I groaned loudly as I realized that there was no real way to avoid him. I stomped over to him, crossing my arms as I came to a stop.

"Are mixed signals actually attractive to some girls? Because those are all that I'm getting from you, and I get the feeling that you're doing it because the lacrosse-stitutes eat that crap up."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "'Lacrosse-stitutes'?"

"It means lacrosse groupies, Dunbar. But that's not the point. I thought that we were done talking." I turned to open up my locker.

"We were done talking about the _kiss_," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper when he said the word "kiss", as if it were a dirty word. "But we still have business to discuss."

"What does that mean?"

"Scott and Stiles want to talk to you at lunch. They're gonna try to get some clues out of you that might tell us who the alpha is."

"_MADELINE!_" I heard someone yell, and I realized that Liam wasn't the last person that I wanted to see: Abigail was.

She marched over to us, defiantly placing her hands on her hips as she stared us both down.

I decided to skirt around the issue. "Why the hell would you call me that?"

"Don't screw around, Maddie, because I'm being serious," she snapped as her eyes narrowed farther. "I'm sick of the two of you lying to me. So I want to know _right now_ what the two of you have been doing, and why my best friend has been spending more time with some random guy than with me."

"Dammit, Abby," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "He's _not_ some random guy. You just wouldn't understand."

"Try me," she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

_Why me?_ I couldn't help but think as I searched for something believable to tell her.

"He's… he's my boyfriend," I finally decided, taking his hand in mine, holding on tight to make sure that he wouldn't yank it away.

"Why would you tell her that?" Liam asked sharply.

"_Because_," I said exasperatedly as I tried to use my eyes to tell him to shut up, "there's no point in hiding this from her anymore." I turned back to face Abigail. "You were right yesterday—I'm dating Liam, but I didn't want anyone to know."

Her eyes softened as she digested this new information. "Aw, Maddie!" she squealed, pulling me into a tight hug. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I guess I was just waiting for the right time," I replied, pulling away from her. "Liam, you can go now. I'll talk to you at lunch."

"Oh, we're _definitely_ talking at lunch," he said, spinning on his heel and walking away.

"I'm so glad that we solved this," Abigail gushed. "And I'm so excited that gloomy little Maddie finally found a boyfriend!"

I faked a smile. "I know! Even I can't believe it."

"You have to tell me everything about you guys. Oh, but first I need to copy your math homework."

"Homework?" I asked, before realization hit me in the face like a brick. "Crap, I didn't do any homework last night."

"Had a long night with Liam?" Abigail teased, nudging me with her elbow.

"You have no idea."

"Maddie!" someone yelled as I was on my way to lunch. I turned around to find the source of the voice, and saw Jackson Nichols heading my way.

"Can I help you?" I asked once he'd approached me.

"Is your sister around here?" he replied, running a hand through his quiffed light brown hair.

I crossed my arms. "Why? Do you wanna take her somewhere and get her stoned?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that _Abigail Garrett_ is my best friend, so I know all about your little stress-relief system. And I don't want Candy getting dragged into that world with you."

"I'm not dragging her into any world, okay? There's _nothing_ wrong with weed, but I'm not forcing her to do anything. I just came by to say that her birthday's coming up soon."

"I'm aware, considering the fact that we share a birthday. And what do you mean by 'soon'? It's the middle of September, and our birthday isn't until November."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, but his brown eyes were steadily trained on me. "I'm checking to see if I need to start saving; I wanna get her something nice."

My eyes softened when I heard the sincerity in his voice. "Listen," I sighed, uncrossing my arms, "Candy isn't really the type to want anything seriously expensive; if she likes you, she probably just wants to be certain that you like her back. And—you didn't hear this from me, but—she _definitely_ likes you."

"Well, she doesn't have to worry about me not liking her," he said, smiling slightly. "But I still wanna get her something nice."

"How about taking her on a real date sometime? Just the two of you, without any of your little pothead friends tagging along. And you can't ever go wrong with a necklace or something, so try that."

"Got it. Thanks, Maddie."

"You're welcome. But make sure that you're good to her. If you hurt her in any way, you're gonna have to answer to me."

"Really?" he laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. I could see why he found it funny, as he stood at about six feet while I was only 5'4". But height wasn't really an issue for me anymore.

"Due to some very recent developments, I'm _very_ sure that I can kick your ass if you play around with my sister. _Capisce?_" I turned and walked away, leaving him to think about what I'd just said.

"What's up with your sudden interest in romance?" Abigail questioned, suddenly appearing by my side.

"What sudden interest in romance?" I responded.

"You know. You've got a new boyfriend, and now you're helping your sister get a new boyfriend."

I scoffed at her as we sat down at our lunch table. "I wasn't 'getting her a boyfriend'. Jackson came up to _me_. Besides, she's already got him; she doesn't need any help."

"Whatever. But I can't believe that you two are dating two super hot guys and I'm still single."

"Well, maybe if you spent less time prying into everyone's personal lives you'd have time to have one of your own."

"Watch the sarcasm," she warned, opening her lunchbox. "Aren't you gonna eat anything?"

I blew a lock of hair out of my face. "I haven't really had time to make myself lunch in the morning. And I refuse to eat the school's lunch."

"Well, maybe if you spent less time trying to eat Liam's face you'd have more time to eat real food," she mocked me.

I gagged at her comment. "That's disgusting. And what makes you think that that's what I've been doing?"

"Why else would you be spending so much time with him? I mean, what else do you do with a boyfriend?"

I shrugged. "Heck if I know." Just then, I heard a voice.

"Come here," it beckoned, and I recognized it as Liam's voice. I looked all around the cafeteria, and I spotted him standing by the exit.

"I think he's waiting for me," I told Abigail, rising from my seat.

"Go get him, tiger," she called to me as I walked over to my "boyfriend".

* * *

**Oh, what has Maddie gotten herself into? Silly girl. I hope you liked this chapter, as it sets up a lot of problems-to-come.**

**Question of the Chapter: What would you do if you were in Liam's situation, and suddenly had a fake boyfriend/girlfriend sprung on you? Let me know in the reviews!**

**I'll see you guys soon, hopefully! Wish my little fingers luck!**


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